


I think I'm okay now

by Milkyway_Bread



Series: Tales of the Gaang [8]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Gen, No really that's the entire fic, Platonic Cuddling, Precious Aang (Avatar), Team as Family, The Gaang gets a break, Things are finally okay and that's the point, Toph being an epic earthbender, Wholesome, bittersweet in the way life tends to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29866560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milkyway_Bread/pseuds/Milkyway_Bread
Summary: Aang tilted his head, "Are you getting some sleep? Most people sleep on the bed, not under it.""I'm not most people."After a moment of hesitation, Aang crawled under the bed with her. They lay next to each other, two of the greatest benders in the world, curled on the floor in a place bigger than they've ever known(The war is over, and time goes on. Aang and Toph hide under a bed, listening to the world, as earthbenders do.)
Relationships: Aang & The Gaang (Avatar), Aang & Toph Beifong, Toph Beifong & The Gaang
Series: Tales of the Gaang [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825765
Comments: 11
Kudos: 52





	I think I'm okay now

It had been a long time since Aang had been at an event so lively.

The chatter was reaching inappropriate heights, much to everyone's delights, especially the servants who themselves were talking to each other. Drinks were passed around - non-alcoholic, for the children, though Sokka and Suki were being very conspicuous about how much there weren't following the rules - and so was food - vegetarian, for Aang, to which Sokka was still making a face at, though Aang knew he meant nothing by it. Chief Hakkoda was actually _giggling_ at something Bato said, which made Katara splash water in his face for getting too loud.

The dining table was huge, larger than anything Aang had ever seen, and the Firelord was sitting at the head of it, trapped in a headlock by one of the Kyoshi warriors Aang didn't recognise. Zuko's guards were hovering, glaring at the warrior, but Zuko's grin kept them at bay. Suki was egging the girl on even as Sokka tried to help Zuko out.

Aang heard himself laugh at one of Uncle's terrible jokes as Mai piped in with a dry, "That was so funny I nearly forgot to laugh."

But she was smiling.

The festive mood was strange and welcoming. The war really had been won, and Zuko had been crowned, and even if there was still a lot more fighting to do, it was nice. To just relax.

At least, that's what Aang tried to tell himself. He half expected the dream to fall apart, for something to happen, for Ozai to show up and burn everything to the ground again. It had been a good, peaceful week and a half since anything happened, and Aang was still on edge.

Katara said that it was fine. Uncle said that as well, though he went on a long-winded metaphor that reminded Aang so much of Monk Gyatso that Aang ended up crying in the older man's lap. Sokka said that he felt it too, the anticipation of battles that would never come.

This was better though. Not a festival out in the streets where people only saw the Avatar, but the more intimate gathering where people saw Aang as Aang. It was a little tiring, all the laughter and joy, but it filled his chest with a warmth that his ribcage could barely hold back.

"Okay, okay, everyone," Zuko groaned, "Stop bothering my servants."

"Oh, we don't mind, my Lord!" one of the younger servants piped up, "The palace hasn't been this lively since - well, since never."

Zuko blushed as one of the Kyoshi warriors - it might have been Ty Lee, actually - hooted, "That's our Zuko! Life of the party!"

Zuko buried his head in his arms and whined, "Uncle, make them stop."

Uncle did no such thing. Aang laughed because Zuko was anything but a party person, but when surrounded by friends, people changed. Katara was bolder, Sokka was dumber, Suki was somehow even more chill, Zuko was actually smiling for once, and Toph -

Was oddly quiet.

She noticed his gaze and looked away, sliding down in her chair until her feet touched the ground. She didn't _seem_ upset - Aang was certain that by now she'd pick up on her moods - but she wasn't enjoying herself either. Which didn't make sense because yesterday Toph and Ty Lee had gotten into a lively discussion about auras and seeing with earthbending.

He kept his eyes on her even as Sokka pulled him into a conversation. Toph had come a long way since punching before feeling, and Katara was right next to her should Toph need anyone. But that didn't mean he wasn't worried.

Eventually, the party started to move elsewhere. Zuko excused himself with Uncle, citing a meeting, and most of the guards followed him out. Sokka and the Water Tribe men had left a while ago, though Aang didn't know where. The girls - of which there were many - were excited for their tour around the palace. Aang was tempted to join them.

But his eyes scanned the crowd and, with a sinking feeling, he realised that Toph wasn't there.

"Aang, you coming?" Katara asked.

"In a bit?"

Katara hesitated, having noticed what he had, "She likes trashing those old rooms Zuko complained about."

"Hurry up, little waterbender," Mai drawled out.

Katara perked up instantly, skipping away. Aang grinned, knowing the girl had never had friends her age, especially not other girls. After meeting the Kyoshi warriors and the Fire Nation girls, there had been a distinct brightness to Katara that all of the boys had picked up on. Sokka, Zuko, Toph and Aang were Katara's family. She needed some friends sometimes.

"See you later, Aang!"

Aang waved, then set out on his own task. He took Katara's advice and checked in on the rooms that Zuko said needed to be remodelled. They were eerie and empty, bloodstains on some of their walls, but Toph liked to find the metal tidbits in them and shape them into her crafts.

It had been a thrilling day, when Toph asked if she could trace their faces with her hands to make sculptures out of them. In classic Toph fashion, there had been a mischievous glint in her eye when she handed Sokka a statue reminiscent of Momo and asked innocently, "Did I get it right?"

Aang, Zuko, Katara and Suki had been breathless with laughter before poor Sokka figured it out and started whining. But he'd been grinning and two days later, gave Toph a blank paper and claimed it as a drawing of her. Toph had deadpanned and said it looked beautiful.

Aang smiled at the memory and renewed his search with vigour.

Had anyone told him a week that his days would be so peaceful that they melded together into one happy memory, he would have kindly directed them to tell that to Zuko and watched the explosion from afar.

Ever since he woke up, things hadn't been _good_. Things could have been worse, but for every day that he had Sokka and Katara, and later Toph and Zuko, was also every day curled up on hard ground or scratchy bedrolls. For every victory there had been defeat, and for every good memory there had been a longing for the peace and home of the Temple.

But now, things were different. Things were better. And Aang was still waiting for something bad to inevitably happen, because that's just how things were.

Toph wasn't in any of the old rooms, so Aang began to wander down the halls. The first room he came across that he recognised was Zuko's. As Firelord, he should have taken the master bedroom, but he hadn't been ready to clean out Ozai's room yet.

No one was ready for _that_ , yet.

The door opened soundlessly, everything about it embodying Zuko's need for stealth. The room itself was bigger than anything Aang had ever seen before, but Kuzon always said that you couldn't be Fire Nation without a certain flair for the dramatics.

(Aang wished Kuzon could meet Zuko. He didn't think he would be able to stop laughing at them trying to out-dramatic each other. But Kuzon was - )

Aang stepped in, trying to be as careful as he could. He sneaked around to all the hiding places he could find, wondering if he could manage to surprise Toph for once. As he moved to open the wardrobe, he spied a lone foot sticking out from under the bed.

Aang grinned, tiptoeing closer.

"I know you're here, Twinkle-toes."

"Could you at least pretend I was close to sneaking up on- "

"No."

Aang pouted, bending down so that he could see. Toph was under Zuko's bed, chest and ear pressed against cold stone, arms spread in a u-shape so that her palms were facing the ground as well.

Aang tilted his head, "Are you getting some sleep?"

She grunted.

"Most people sleep _on_ the bed, not under it."

"I'm not most people."

Well, she had a point.

"I'm just listening," Toph said, and didn't elaborate.

After a moment of hesitation, Aang crawled under the bed with her. It would've been a tight fit, if either of them had been further along their lives. Instead, it was almost comfortable, the familiarity of hard ground pressed agianst his side as he faced Toph.

They lay next to each other, two of the greatest benders in the world, curled on the floor in a place bigger than they've ever known

"Is something wrong?"

Toph huffed, "Does something have to be?"

"Not really. But if something _isn't_ wrong, I start to get nervous."

Toph hummed non-committedly, "I know what you mean."

There was a silence, only broken by their soft breathing. Aang closed his eyes, so that they were both sightless, and tried to orientate himself with the room. He felt the sun hanging in the sky, the ocean just a flight away, the air all around him, the stone under him. He wondered if Monk Gyatso would be proud of how far he had come, being so connected to the elements.

He would be, Aang decided. He always had been.

(He doubted, sometimes, as every child did, but he was moving forward, moving on.)

Aang's eyes snapped open when Toph spoke again.

"Nothing is wrong, Aang. Something _should_ be wrong, but nothing is. This - this peace - it's so ..."

" _Strange_ ," Aang breathed.

He felt his eyes sting, but he didn't know why. Nothing was sad, right now. Everything was _good_. He was - he was happy. And for once, that wasn't a lie.

"Strange," Toph repeated, "Yeah. It's not going to last."

Aang hummed in agreement. Zuko was in a meeting right now, talking about some pro-Ozai movement. Ba Sing Se was still trying to stabalise. The world was still broken and cruel. It had only been a week and a half, after all. The worst was still to come.

And yet -

"But we're okay. Right now."

There was nothing else to say. Because things were all right. They weren't perfect, this peace wasn't eternal, but they were fine.

Aang turned over so that he was in the same position as Toph, his ear pressed against the ground. He reached out and covered Toph's hand with his.

He wasn't as good as Toph, but he could hear earth vibrating through the halls of the palace. Uncle and Zuko in the conference room, Sokka and Chief Hakkoda in the kitchen, Suki and Katara and the other girls near the turtleduck pond. Servants milling about, Ministers arguing with Uncle, the newly-released prisoners enjoying their freedom.

And if he tried, really hard, screwing his eyes shut and slowing his breathing down, he could hear _more_. The leaves rustling in the air, water rippling, fire flaring. Bare feet on the grass, people laughing and twirling in the sun, dishes falling as someone tripped, a guard showing off pictures of his daughter.

If he tried, _really_ hard, he could hear the world still spinning, the universe not once stopping, the sun rising and falling with the moon and tides. If he tried, he could hear -

Toph's heartbeat, next to his.

"You're thinking sappy things again, aren't you, Twinkle-toes."

"Is that so bad?"

Toph grinned, "Right now, _nothing_ is bad. That's kind of the point."

Aang opened his mouth to respond when they heard footsteps approaching. The door flew open, Sokka's voice drifting through.

"Well, _I_ think we should just put them under house arrest."

"I say we kill them!" Katara offered.

Zuko heaved a sigh, "We can't just _kill_ my Ministers."

Aang couldn't help himself, "We shouldn't be killing anyone, remember? Pacifism, and all that."

There was a pause, and then some shuffling. Katara was the first one on her knees, peering at them curiously.

"Why are you two under the bed?"

"Sleeping," they replied in unison.

Zuko rolled his eyes, "Well, sleep on the bed. It's better for your posture."

Toph huffed, scrambling out, "Yes, _dad_."

"Katara, Sokka, our child is being stubborn."

Katara levelled Toph with a mock-motherly look, "No surprise there."

The three of them started to banter about their really weird family dynamics. Sokka gave Aang an exasperated look with a gesture of, _what is wrong with them?_

Aang grinned back and accepted the other boy's offered hand, letting himself be pulled on his feet. Like the drama queen he was, Zuko was already sprawled out on his bed, not having even bothered to take off his crown.

Toph began climbing in without hesitation, "It's big enough for the five of us."

It wouldn't have been, if they had been grown-up. But something in Aang thought that even if they _had_ been grown-up, they would have made it work. They would always make it work.

"Cuddle pile!" Sokka yelled, rolling on to the bed and pushing his feet into Zuko's face.

Zuko groaned, rolling over, "You'd think being Firelord would mean _nicer friends_."

Sokka shuffled until he was the right way up, grinning, "You can't choose family."

Katara looked to Aang, frowning slightly, "Are you okay, Aang?"

Aang blinked through the blur in his eyes. He hadn't realised he had been crying, the growing, warm feeling in his chest finally becoming too big to hold back. He ran the back of his hand across his eyes and slammed down on the bed.

Zuko let out an "oof" of breath as Aang ended up across his stomach. They were a mess of limbs and laughter.

Belatedly, Aang replied, "I'm okay."

And he was.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, dear reader, I hope you're doing okay <3


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